Far from the Madding Gerund named top language book for 2006

Far from the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from Language Log by Mark Liberman and Geoffrey Pullum (William, James and Company, paperback, 368 pages, $22). This book, and the Web log it's based on, is not only a lively and interesting read, but also one of the best available glimpses of how linguists think as they listen to the news and search the Web. These essays are characteristically informative, scathing and funny.